1.   Subject to paragraph 2, Member States may allow credit institutions issuing covered bonds to include assets in the cover pool that are secured by collateral assets located outside the Union.

2.   Where Member States allow for the inclusion of assets as referred to in paragraph 1, they shall ensure investor protection by requiring that credit institutions verify that those collateral assets meet all the requirements set out in Article 6. Member States shall ensure that those collateral assets offer a level of security similar to that of collateral assets located in the Union and shall ensure that the realisation of those collateral assets is legally enforceable in a way which is equivalent in effect to the realisation of collateral assets located in the Union.